Wennerstrom, Bertel A. "Bert" or "Beans"

1903-1988 | Chief Accountant, Alaska Railroad

Bertel A. “Bert” or “Beans” Wennerstrom was born on July 7, 1903, in Southbridge, Massachusetts, the eldest of four children of Finnish immigrants Arthur and Mary Wennerstrom. His parents immigrated to the United States in 1901. They first settled in Southbridge, Massachusetts. By 1910, the family was living in Seattle, Washington, where his father, Arthur, was a house painter.[1]

On April 15, 1920, Wennerstrom first arrived in Alaska on a visit, by steamship, and planned to return to Seattle the following week. Instead, three days later, he went to work for the Alaskan Engineering Commission (AEC), the federal agency in charge of construction of the Alaska Railroad, as a laborer in the Supply Division’s material yard. He also worked as janitor, mail clerk, and in the coal laboratory before advancing to manager of the employment office. This was the position he held when he married Violet “Mae” Elliott in 1927.[2]

Violet “Mae” Elliott was born in Seattle, Washington, on May 17, 1905, to William Sherman and Violet Lucy Ball Elliott. On August 10, 1916, she and her sister Jeanne "Happy" Elliott arrived in Anchorage with their mother, Violet, who was born in Stafordshire, England, in 1883. They came to join their father, William Sherman Elliott, born in May Creek, Washington in 1881, who had arrived earlier in the year to work for the AEC as a crane engineer. The family’s first winter was spent in a tent, with Violet and her sister, Jeanne, traveling to school aboard a horse-drawn sleigh. Her father built two houses between C and D Street, where the family lived. Her father was killed in a bridge accident in 1922.

Violet Wennerstrom, who was known by her middle name, "Mae," graduated from Anchorage High School in 1922. She worked for the AEC and its successor agency, the Alaska Railroad, as a bookkeeper from 1922 until 1929. From 1941 to 1944, she was a stenographer for the U.S. District Court at Anchorage, and the U.S. Department of Justice. She worked as a medical secretary to Dr. Harold S. Sogn until 1954. From 1956 to 1981, she was a legal secretary to attorney Paul F. Robison. She was a member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Auxiliary 4.[3]

The first of their three sons, Justin, was born in 1930. The second son, Harold Elliott, born on January 22, 1932, but died on June 7, 1937, at the Anchorage Hospital following surgery.[4] Their youngest son, Bruce, was born in 1934.

From 1927 to 1964, Bertel “Bert” and Violet Wennerstrom lived in their home at 415 West 8th Avenue, Anchorage. Fishing, hunting, and golf were favorite activities when they moved to Anchorage. The golf course was located on Ninth Avenue, just a block from their home and good fishing holes were accessible. He said that these sports are not what they used to be in a 1969 interview: “You have to go too far, now. Montana and Willow Creeks were the best streams in the world. But, there are too many people these days.”[5]

Wennerstrom had been chief accountant for twenty-two years when he retired from the Alaska Railroad in 1964, after forty-four years of service. He was one of the last members of the Golden Spike Veterans Club, one of two employees who had been with the AEC and the Alaska Railroad since President Warren G. Harding drove the golden spike that commemorated the completion of the railroad on July 15, 1923. After his retirement, he and his wife moved to the Fairweather Condominiums at 11th Avenue and L Street, Anchorage.[6]

Wennerstrom was remembered as a warm, friendly and funny person, who also had a wonderful imagination. From 1928 to 1930, he played the part of Dr. Knutsen on a show on radio station KFQD and sang the song, "When the Ice Worms Nest Again." During World War II he helped combine the Anchorage Community Fund and the American Red Cross.

Winnerstrom had an interest in local history and art. He was a member of the boards of the Cook Inlet Historical Society, the Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum (now the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center), and the Anchorage Fine Arts Commission. He also served on the board of the Alaska Historical Society as treasurer.

Wennerstrom was also a member of Elks Lodge B.P.O.E. 1351, which he joined in 1924, and the Pioneers of Alaska, Igloo No. 15. He was a staunch supporter of the Fur Rendezvous, Anchorage's annual winter festival. He and his wife, Violet “Mae” Winnerstrom, were King and Queen Regent for the 1969 Fur Rendezvous.[7]

Bertel A. Wennerstrom died on November 12, 1988, at Humana Hospital-Alaska, in Anchorage. Violet Mae Elliott Wennerstrom died on February 8, 1996, at the Anchorage Pioneer Home. Their family remembered them as follows: “Bert and Mae were a very popular couple who loved to dance, entertain, hike, pick berries, [and] fish and hunt. Mae also enjoyed reading, gardening, traveling, and cooking.”[8]

The couple is buried in the Elks Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, next to son Harold. They were survived by their two sons, Justin, of Oakland, California; and Bruce, of Santa Barbara, California.[9]